


The Love Suite: Rantaro Edition

by FrillyHeathen



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Amami Rantaro is a Good Brother, Angst, Anxious Amami Rantaro, Aromantic Asexual Amami Rantaro, Attempt at Humor, Brotherly Affection, Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, No Romance, No Smut, Not Beta Read, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Some chapters will have an M rating just to be safe, This was difficult to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:52:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28929825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrillyHeathen/pseuds/FrillyHeathen
Summary: The Love Suite was a place for letting go of all inhibition, for relishing in your most hidden desires. So why on earth was Rantaro the one with the key to it?A.k.a. Rantaro attempts to sidestep any romantic or sexual entanglement in the Love Suite for fifteen chapters straight
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede & Amami Rantaro, Amami Rantaro & Chabashira Tenko, Amami Rantaro & Everyone, Amami Rantaro & Gokuhara Gonta, Amami Rantaro & Harukawa Maki, Amami Rantaro & Hoshi Ryoma, Amami Rantaro & Iruma Miu, Amami Rantaro & K1-B0, Amami Rantaro & Momota Kaito, Amami Rantaro & Oma Kokichi, Amami Rantaro & Saihara Shuichi, Amami Rantaro & Shinguji Korekiyo, Amami Rantaro & Shirogane Tsumugi, Amami Rantaro & Tojo Kirumi, Amami Rantaro & Yonaga Angie, Amami Rantaro & Yumeno Himiko
Comments: 40
Kudos: 75





	1. The Opening Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rantaro finds the key.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story contains many minor spoilers for the game, as well as major spoilers that are implied but never outright stated. With that in mind, please sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter!

Rantaro found the key on the ground. It was small and golden with a heart-shaped handle and red gemstone at the center. With detailing like that, it didn’t match any of the doors he had found so far. He turned it over in his hands and wondered why it was lying there on the ground.

He had the sinking feeling that it had to do with Monokuma.

After explaining the rules of the killing game, the bear had stated that he would provide them with no motives other than escape. He was positive that they would murder each other without any outside intervention. But what if he wasn’t as certain as he appeared? What if this key was part of an awful plan to make them--

"Rise and shine, ursine!"

Rantaro jumped, and all five of the Monokubs burst from the nearby bushes. They all hit the ground rolling and circled around him. It may have been intimidating if any of them were tall enough to reach his kneecaps.

"H-Hey, where did you get that key?" Monophanie asked. She was trying to sound assertive, but her whole body was shaking like a leaf.

"Youse had better put that back where you found it," Monosuke said.

"Why? I just found it on the ground here.”

“You...found it on the ground?” Monotaro asked.

“Yeah,” Rantaro said with a nod.

The Monokubs shot each other nervous glances.

“Um...um...emergency meeting!” Monotaro shouted. 

They all went into a huddle. From their overlapping whispers, Rantaro picked up a few phrases like, “Daddy” and, “Your fault.”

After a full minute of intense whispering, the Monokubs turned back to Rantaro. “Congratulations!” Monotaro yelled. “You’ve found the Magical Key! It gives you, um…”

Monophanie butted in, yelling, “A special ability in the killing game!”

“Yeah! So don’t go sharing that you found it with anyone else!” Monokid shouted.

Monotaro nodded. “What they said!” 

“What do you mean 'a special ability'?" Rantaro asked.

"Sorry! No time for questions!"

"Wait--"

“So long, bear well!”

As hectically as they had appeared, the Monokubs were gone. Rantaro was left by himself, the “Magical Key,” still clutched in one hand. It felt heavier now.

Rantaro swivelled his head, checking for witnesses. There was nobody. He slipped the key into his pocket.

It was unlikely that the Monokubs were telling the truth, but he would keep the key secret for now. People got desperate, and desperate people were eager to believe appealing lies. Whatever this key did, Rantaro hoped it would help him end this killing game before it had the chance to start.

* * *

Rantaro stepped into his room that night and found Monokuma sitting on the bed. 

"Get out,” he said without hesitation.

Monokuma hopped off the bed and strolled over to Rantaro. "Now, now, is that any way to speak to your headmaster? I noticed that you have an interesting item with you. Where, oh where did you find such a thing?”

Rantaro’s left hand drifted to the pocket holding the key. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious, because no one should be able to get that key yet. It’s a seasonal item that’s not in season, so how did it end up in your pocket?” 

“How do you know that I have it, but not how I got it?”

Monokuma growled; he looked moments away from tearing Rantaro into shreds. “I don’t have time for your insolent questions. Tell me where you got it and maybe I’ll reconsider your permanent expulsion from this academy.”

“I found it on the ground,” Rantaro said. “The Monokubs told me that it would give me an advantage in the killing game.”

“Did they now?” Monokuma lowered his head and muttered to himself, “My precious little cubs were trying to hide their screw up from me.”

“There, you have your answer. Now you can go bother them about it.” Deep in Rantaro’s bones, he felt the urge to pick up Monokuma and punt him into the hallway. It would get him killed in a matter of seconds, but he found that he didn’t care as much about that.

“You won’t be able to get rid of me that easily! I still need that key!” 

Monokuma lunged forward and Rantaro easily sidestepped him. This happened a few more times. Monokuma quickly grew out of breath, and the key was still snugly in Rantaro's pocket.

“Tell me what the key does and maybe I’ll consider giving it back,” Rantaro said. He wanted to see how far he could push his luck.

A murderous glint flashed in Monokuma’s eyes, and Rantaro had his answer. No key was worth getting his face clawed off by Monokuma, and he began reaching for his pocket. That was when Monokuma shouted, _“Fine!_ I’ll tell you what the stupid key does!”

Rantaro tried not to look too surprised, drawing his hand away from his pocket.

Monokuma smoothed his ruffled fur, and when he spoke again his voice was calm. “That rare item is the Key of Love. It gives you access to _Hotel Kumasutra.”_ He emphasized the name like he was showing off an impressive bit of wordplay. 

Rantaro gave no reaction. Monokuma grumbled something under his breath about kids these days not understanding true genius before continuing.

"If you hold the key while you sleep, you'll wake up in one of the hotel rooms with one of your classmates. That catch is that only you are aware of the true location. The other person believes that they’re somewhere else entirely! Not only that, but they see you as their ideal."

A frown tugged on Rantaro's lips. "What do you mean they’ll see me as 'their ideal'?"

"Don't interrupt me! As I was about to say, their ‘ideal’ is their perfect person in the perfect scenario. Usually a _romantic_ scenario that ends in _steamy_ circumstances. Someone like you won’t have any need for that key, so you can just hand it over now.”

Rantaro slipped the key out of his pocket and lifted it up when Monokuma swiped at it. He held it up to the light and said, “I don’t know, from what you’ve said it sounds like it could be pretty valuable.”

Monokuma was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, he sounded disturbingly gleeful. "But you're not interested in romance or sex, so it can't be of any value to you, can it?"

Rantaro’s blood went cold. He lowered the key and stared back at Monokuma’s soulless eyes. "How do you know that?" 

"Puhuhu, what kind of school doesn't know all about it's students' preferences?"

He wanted to answer back, "A normal one," but he couldn’t unclamp his jaw. Rantaro wasn’t secretive about being aroace, but the fact that Monokuma knew was more than chilling. How much else did he know?

“Normally I would let you keep the key,” Monokuma said, “but it wouldn’t be fair to the others if such a useful item went to someone who wasn’t going to use it. So how about we make a deal? If you decide to keep that key, you’ll have to use it every night. Meaning that each night you get to have a flaming hot visit with one of your classmates!”

He couldn’t let Monokuma get under his skin. “I have a few more questions before I agree to anything. The way you described the hotel makes it sound as though it’s a shared dream I’m having with the other person. Is that right?”

“Correctamundo!”

“Then will they remember it the next morning?”

Monokuma's permanent half-grin seemed to grow even more wicked. “Oh, I see, you want to know if you’ll get caught. Is sweet little Rantaro finally blossoming? Is that sex drive finally kicking in? You’ll be happy to know that they won’t remember a single thing come morning. You’re free to go hog wild!”

“It won’t have any effect on them?”

“Of course not!” Monokuma declared, before he lowered his head in a moment of contemplation. “But...it is a dream. Even if they don’t remember it, it may leave a mark on their subconscious.” 

“That’s all,” Rantaro said, “I will accept your terms.”

“A deal’s a deal,” Monokuma replied, suspiciously quickly. “Let’s shake on it!”

Monokuma grabbed Rantaro’s hand, claws digging into the soft flesh of his palms, and shook it violently. “A pleasure doing business with you. Make sure to use protection! Oh, and one more thing…”

Rantaro knew that it would be something.

”Due to the unorthodox manner in which you obtained the key, I’ve decided to make a small adjustment to how it works. The other person won’t remember anything of the night you spend with them, unless you break the fantasy. In that case, they’ll wake up in the morning and remember _everything.”_ He let go of Rantaro’s hand. “Ta-ta! Have fun!”

“Wait, that wasn’t--” Rantaro began to protest, but Monokuma was already gone. He and the Monokubas shared a penchant for suddenly appearing and disappearing.

Rantaro opened his other hand and looked down at the key. When Monokuma explained what it did, Rantaro had thought for a moment that he could use it to try and identify the mastermind. Monokuma would never have let him keep it if it could be used for that purpose.

He couldn’t find the mastermind, he couldn’t use the stupid clue that he had left for himself, and he couldn’t come up with any good way to prevent an inevitable killing game. There was nothing meaningful he could do for the others. He ran his thumb over the red gemstone engraved in the key.

At the very least, he could promise them pleasant dreams.

Rantaro got ready for bed like it was any other night. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, and went through the painstaking process of removing all of his jewelry. A silent prayer slipped past his lips for his sisters and their safety. Finally, he climbed under the covers of his bed.

With the Key of Love clutched in one hand, Rantaro closed his eyes and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rantaro, looking at the Key of Love: Wow. This is worthless!
> 
> Monokuma, knowing full well how much the Key of Love costs: It's less than worthless, my boy!


	2. Angie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rantaro @ any female character: Is this a reminder of my sisters?

Rantaro woke up in a gaudy red room strewn with sexual instruments. In the Love Suite, he was supposed to play the role of the other person's "ideal". If Angie's ideal was based on the god she worshipped, then Rantaro wasn’t sure that he could meet those standards.

Angie stood in the middle of the room, unmoving. Rantaro walked up to her, and the glaze over her eyes disappeared.

"There you are! I was beginning to think that you were going to skip our session today." She giggled. "Of course, Atua would have punished you for that."

Rantaro chuckled nervously. "Good thing I'm here, then.”

She clapped her hands together. "Indeed. I will make a beautiful portrait of you to honor Atua!"

A portrait, huh? He could handle that. Though there weren’t any art supplies in the room, and he doubted that Angie had a canvas hidden on her person.

“First, we must decide on your divine pose!" Without warning, Angie swooped forward and grabbed his arms. She prodded and pulled at him until he was in a specific position. It was a pose of worship, with his chin tipped upward and his palms opened towards the sky.

She took a few steps back and framed Rantaro with her fingers. "Hmm...perhaps lower your left arm a bit? Just like that! Now angle your right arm towards me...perfect! But…” 

She walked back and shifted him into a different pose. Then another. And another.

Everything, from his eyebrows to his fingers, had to be in the exact spot that Angie wanted before she would step back. The spirit of an artist had taken over her body, and she was full of an intensity he had never seen in her before. If he didn’t know any better, he might believe that she was possessed.

Posing for a portrait was much harder than Rantaro had anticipated. His whole body was tired from following all of Angie’s minute instructions. There was only so long that he could keep his arms “lifted to embrace Atua’s glory,” before they grew achy.

“Angie,” he said, with his arms in the aforementioned position, “don’t you think we should take a break?”

It took a moment for his words to penetrate the fog of artistic focus that surrounded her. Angie blinked against the room’s dim lights as though she were just waking up. “Huh? What were you saying, Rantaro?”

He repeated himself, and she brightened instantly. “Of course! You have worked very hard, and Atua says that you have earned a break.”

Rantaro let his arms drop. He rubbed his shoulders and relief flooded his body. Being trapped inside a glass dome had made him out of shape, apparently. 

Angie’s eyes followed his movements closely. She was probably still thinking of new poses to try, but there was an emotion on her face that Rantaro couldn’t place. When she walked over and placed her hands on his shoulders, he instinctively moved with her hands. Angie giggled.

“You follow orders so well, Rantaro.” She looked up at him, and there was a new kind of intensity in her eyes. “That’s what I like about you; you always do what I say.”

Her hands trailed down his chest. They traveled lower...and lower…

Rantaro grabbed her wrists. 

Angie’s eyes widened to the size of palettes. 

“I was just thinking,” he said, “why don’t you try out some poses, too?” He moved her hands onto her hips so her arms were akimbo. “See? Just like that."

Irritation lurked under eyes when she smiled. "You are so bold! Touching a higher rank like that!" Once again looking at him with bedroom eyes. "You know...I would let you touch me like this more--"

He interrupted her. "If we want a portrait that really pleases Atua, then we should take turns trying to find the perfect pose.”

Angie's irritation melted away when he mentioned Atua. “So smart, Rantaro! Your devotion is truly divine!” She held out her arms and wriggled her fingers. “Okay! Move me!”

His first decision, just to be petty, was to stretch her arms up as high as they could go.

"Perfect," he said, "now you just have to stand like that for a few hours."

"But Atua will not will not want his followers to have tired arms!"

"Ah, of course not."

It quickly became a game. They took turns putting each other into the most bizarre and difficult positions that they could think of. It was a game of Twister without the mat. Rantaro found himself genuinely smiling. Angie was so full of cheer and vitality…

She reminded him of one of his sisters.

It was Angie’s turn. She walked right up to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her face into his chest. He tensed, but she didn’t try anything else. Her eyes were closed, and she yawned. 

"Atua says that this is his favorite," she mumbled into his shirt. He should have noticed sooner that she was asleep on her feet.

Rantaro gently guided her to the bed and pulled aside the blankets for her. She let go of him and crawled in. He pulled the blankets up and she looked at him with half-lidded eyes. He thought that she might say something, but instead she grabbed his arm and tugged on it. He sat down beside her.

Angie nuzzled against his side, hugging his arm to her chest like it was a teddy bear. There was a contented smile on her face.

Affection rose in his chest as he looked at her. A paranoid voice came with it.

_Don’t get attached. Trust no one. She might die anyway._

He told it to shut up.

He reached out his free hand and brushed a strand of white hair from her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, some of the chapters will loosely follow the canon Love Suite events, while others will involve me taking grand creative liberties. All of the chapters are written (with need of editing) and fall into lengths of 800-2,000 words. Almost all of them are also packed to the brim with fluff, with some angst and humor thrown in for extra flavor. 
> 
> This is my first multi-chaptered fic that I've written without a beta reader, so I'm a tad nervous about it. Feel free to point out any mistakes or to give any critiques!
> 
> I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and that you have a lovely day!


	3. Gonta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rantaro: I've only had Gonta for a day and a half, but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.

Rantaro woke up in a gaudy red room strewn with sexual instruments. In the Love Suite, he was supposed to play the role of the other person's "ideal". Gonta's mind was an enigma wrapped in a silky cocoon, and Rantaro didn't know what to expect. 

When Rantaro walked up to him, the taller boy immediately flushed and averted his eyes. Rantaro waited for him to look back, but Gonta was staring at the wall to his right like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

So Rantaro stepped forward and tapped on Gonta’s arm. “Hey.”

Gonta jumped back. He stared at Rantaro with wide eyes, like a deer in headlights. Then realization settled in. “You are speaking to Gonta?”

“There’s not anyone else here, is there?” Rantaro asked with an easy smile.

Gonta looked around the room, and his shoulders slumped. “You right. Sorry, Gonta is distracted.” He opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it again and frowned. “You heard Gonta’s speech and are here to mock him, aren’t you?”

That caught Rantaro off guard. Were they at some sort of convention for entomologists? It was the only setting where he could imagine Gonta giving a speech. He prayed that he wouldn’t be forced to pretend like he knew anything about insects. 

But while he thought to himself, Gonta was still standing in front of him, looking dejected.

“Of course not,” Rantaro said, “your speech went fine.”

“Really? But Gonta heard laughter, even when he not making a joke.”

Rantaro winced. Gonta hadn’t spent much time in the company of humans, but he had clearly faced derision from them before. Part of Rantaro had hoped that Gonta wasn’t aware of what other people said about him, but it was naive to think so.

“Those people don’t matter. Like I said, your speech was good. You were really passionate while giving it.”

Gonta stood straighter, so that he was at his full, towering height. “Of course! Gonta very passionate about bugs!” His eyes lit up. “You like bugs as much as Gonta?”

Admittedly, Rantaro wasn’t super jazzed about bugs. He loved catching them as a kid, but after traveling through several rain forests and encountering every variety of mosquito, he stopped feeling as enthralled by the creepy and the crawly.

“Yep, I’m a regular bug enthusiast.”

A massive, glowing smile to burst onto Gonta’s face, the radiance of which was almost blinding. “This is wonderful! Will you be Gonta’s friend? Gonta’s never had a friend that likes bugs as much as him.”

Rantaro couldn’t help but smile back. “I’d be glad to be your friend.”

Somehow, Gonta’s smile grew even brighter. Then without hesitation he asked, “What’s your favorite bug?”

The question didn’t surprise Rantaro, but the fact that he had an actual answer for it did. On one of his travels, after an entire day of hiking through barren wasteland, he found himself watching a small dung beetle instead of setting up camp. The beetle’s perseverance was impressive. It reminded him of the myth of Sisyphus, doomed to an eternity of trying to roll a boulder up a hill. In some ways, seeing the beetle’s dedication made Rantaro feel better about his own seemingly fruitless task. 

“I like dung beetles because they look cool,” he finally said.

“Gonta like dung beetles, too! Gonta like all beetles. Some are going away though..”

“Like tiger beetles,” Rantaro said with a sagely nod. It was the single piece of beetle knowledge he had that wasn’t related to dung beetles.

Gonta’s expression hardened. “Tiger beetles losing their homes, and no one stopping it. Gonta have plan to stop it, but…”

“Wait, you’re saying that you have a plan to help the tiger beetles?”

He nodded. “That what Gonta trying to say in speech, but his tongue gets tied in front of crowds. He rambles about hornets, instead.”

Rantaro had noticed that Gonta seemed to bring up hornets whenever he was nervous, but that wasn’t what intrigued him the most. What intrigued him was the fact that even in his fantasy, Gonta was thinking about ways to prevent an entire population of beetles from losing their natural habitat. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Gonta was a legitimate entomologist and, despite his lack of knowledge on many basic concepts, that he was very intelligent.

Rantaro folded his arms and thought for a moment. Finally, he said, “I could help you with public speaking if you’d like. I’ve had to sit through a lot of speeches before, so I think I’m qualified to give advice.”

In a split second, Gonta’s expression switched from serious to amazed. “You would help Gonta like that?”

“Absolutely. It sounds like you have some good ideas; you just need some help sharing them with the world.”

For years, Rantaro had carefully crafted a persona that was friendly yet detached. He didn’t get too close with anyone else, and he was comfortable with that. People grew attached to him, but he took it in stride and remained unaffected by whatever affection they offered. Even so, he was caught off guard when Gonta pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. 

“Thank you! You are true gentleman!” Gonta said with a wet voice.

“...no problem, just watch the ribs, please.”

“Oh! Gonta is sorry.”

Gonta loosened his grip, but didn’t let go. He was bent over so that his face rested on Rantaro’s shoulder. Rantaro extracted an arm to pat him on the back.

It felt odd being cocooned in Gonta’s arms...but it didn’t feel bad. Somewhere along the line, Rantaro must have forgotten how nice it felt to be held by someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why, but I decided to completely rewrite this chapter a day before posting it. At first it was going to follow the fantasy of the canon Love Suite event, but then I changed my mind at the last minute. Long story short, this may not be as well-edited as the other chapters because I did it all in one sitting.
> 
> This is one of the shorter ones, because I couldn't think of anything else to happen, and because I struggled a bit to write Gonta's dialogue. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and that you have a lovely day!


	4. Himiko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rantaro: How tall are you?
> 
> Himiko: Height is a social construct
> 
> Rantaro: So you're short

Rantaro woke up in a gaudy red room strewn with sexual instruments. In the Love Suite, he was supposed to play the role of the other person's "ideal". Himiko certainly had an active imagination, so he was curious to see what fantasy she would come up with.

Her face immediately twisted into a pout when she saw him. "Rantaro...have you been attuning your mana?"

"My mana?"

She stamped a foot down. "I knew it, you skipped preparations again! Nyeh, what a useless thrall…"

"Thrall" was a term that Rantaro was unfamiliar with, but he could safely assume that it was something magical. One of his sisters read a lot of fantasy, and she loved to shout out made-up spells and incantations when she was playing with Rantaro. He learned to keep up with her imagination, so he could keep up with Himiko’s. But if all else failed, flattery was still an option. 

"My apologies, I got distracted by some lovely roses that reminded me of you."

Himiko’s face flushed bright red. "O-Oh, in that case…" 

Then she shook her head and stamped her foot again. "No, you can't distract me like that! I am immune to your spell-casting!" Her cheeks were still dusted pink. "If your mana isn't attuned then we can't start the ceremony, and if we can't start the ceremony then we can't finish transforming you! Do you want to stay like this forever?"

Himiko was certainly more forceful in her fantasies than she was in real life. Rantaro didn’t think he had ever heard her raise her voice. But he still had no clue what she was talking about.

"Maybe I do, would that be so bad?" he asked coolly. It was supposed to be a genuine question, but it came out like a taunt.

"Of course it would, you lazy lump! With your ears and tail, everyone will know that you're my familiar! That's why we have to finish the ceremony, to turn you completely human!”

Now they were getting somewhere. Rantaro knew about familiars; his sister loved to say that the family cat was hers. So in Himiko's fantasy, he was an animal that had taken a partially human form. Rather Beauty and the Beast-esque, wasn't it?

“N-Not that I don’t like you like this! I’m just worried…” Himiko cupped her face and turned away from him. “Why are you getting me worked up when you’re the one who was late, huh? This calls for a punishment.”

How afraid he should be at that statement would depend on how accurately he had judged Himiko’s threat level. Honestly, he didn’t think he could force himself to be afraid of Himiko in any form. At worst he was expecting a bop on the head.

“Darn, not a punishment,” he said, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice. 

Himiko fixed him with a fierce glare, her bottom lip jutting out. “Hey, what’s with that tone! I won’t go easy on you just because you’re my familiar. I’m a very dangerous mage, you know. I could magically pluck all the hairs off your head and leave you bald!”

Admittedly, the threat made him lift one protective hand towards his head. So he was a little attached to his hair, sue him. At least he was honest about his vanity.

"Stand still," Himiko commanded. 

Rantaro lowered his hands. He fought the upward twitch of his lips as Himiko walked forward, looking as stiff and serious as a drill sergeant. She stopped right in front of him and had to crane her head back to look him in the eyes.

“Prepare for yourself,” she said. Then she surged forward and pulled him into the tightest hug she could manage.

Rantaro was fine.

This was fine.

Himiko tightened her grip around his middle. She burrowed her face into his shirt like an especially affectionate cat. “Nyeh…”

He hoped that she couldn’t notice his breathing hitch.

"Is this my punishment?" he asked.

“Yes. I usually spoil you, so now you have to spoil me,” she mumbled.

“I see.” He was overcome by a specific instinct, and he placed a hand on her head. His fingers carded through her hair and ruffled it a little. Himiko made a small, happy noise.

“Nyeh...more…”

She looked so tiny next to him, and she had this contented look on her face. It reminded him of a purring cat, or a sleepy dog, or…

There was a painful lump in his throat. 

Himiko leaned her weight onto him. He moved his other hand to her back to keep her propped up. Just as he had ruffled her hair without thinking about it, he began to trace small circles on her back. 

The action brought back memories. They were good memories, but...

It felt like something inside of him was breaking.

“Nyeh...why do you look sad?” Himiko had lifted her head and was looking up at him with a small frown.

“It’s nothing.” He swallowed back the burning lump in his throat and smiled reassuringly.

Himiko looked skeptical. “I can’t have my familiar being sad.” She pulled away from him, and he felt both relief and panic. Some part of him wasn’t registering that this was Himiko and not one of his sisters.

It was kind of pathetic how grateful he was for the contact when Himiko grabbed one of his hands.

She tugged him forward, and he complied until he noticed that she was pulling him towards the bed. He froze. He couldn’t deal with this right now. Not with her, not right now, not when he already felt so--

“Come on,” she said, “we’re gonna look at the stars together.”

All of the tension in his muscles uncoiled with a surge of relief. He hated this stupid Love Suite for making him so on edge.

Rantaro sat down on the bed first. He flopped backwards onto the blankets with his arms spread out. It reminded him of all the hotel beds that he slept on while traveling. At some point in his travels, those hotel beds became more familiar than his bed at home. 

He couldn’t tell if he was feeling nostalgia or heartbreak.

Himiko laid down next to him and used his stretched out arm as a head rest.

"Nyeh...the stars are pretty tonight, aren't they?"

Rantaro looked up at the stained, off-white ceiling of the hotel room and he wondered what she was seeing. He hoped it was something better than this empty world and mindless game.

"Yeah, they are," he said.

Himiko wriggled to press herself closer to his side. He felt another pang in his chest. A few moments passed before she was drooling on the front of his shirt, fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn't clear why Rantaro had a little freak-out when Himiko started puling him towards the bed: he was worried that her fantasy would take a turn for the sexual, which is especially awkward when you've already made the connection between that person and a sibling.
> 
> So far all of the chapters have included platonic hugging/cuddling, because that's just how we roll. My biggest concern for this chapter was overusing "Nyeh," which I feel I 1000% did. I hope that you enjoyed the wholesomeness, and that you have an awesome day!


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